National Restaurant Association The National Restaurant Association's list of predicted food trends for 2013 makes a good read during Restaurant Week, Saturday through Feb. 2. Locally-sourced meats and seafood, locally-grown produce, healthful kids' meals/nutrition and environmental sustainability are, once again, among the top trends.

Chef David Young's Roastfish & Cornbread Restaurant (www.roastfishandcornbread.com), at 70 Marshland Road, on Hilton Head Island, prepares locally grown collard greens in the Gullah lowcountry tradition. Roastfish & Cornbread also serves healthful kids' meals. Everybody wins when we shop and eat local - local ingredients are good for the environment and enriches the local economy. In South Carolina, collard greens are in season all year long. Selecting foods that are in season, whether you are eating at home or in your favorite restaurant, help up the chances of your actually eating foods that have been locally grown. To help make those choices, the South Department of Agriculture, through its Certified S.C. Grown* program, makes available a South Carolina Produce Availability Calendar. To download a copy, visit www.certifiedscgrowhttp://agriculture.sc.gov/UserFiles/file/PDFS/harvestcalendar1108.pdf.

Chef Joe DePatty, from Hilton Island's Flatbread Grill, proved to be somewhat clairvoyant when he presented his Peruvian Stew with Flounder at last fall's 2012 Historic Bluffton Arts & Seafood Festival "Art of Cuisine" Iron Chef competition. Peruvian Cuisine was the number one pick as top trend in 2013 in the category of "Ethnic Cuisines and Flavors:"

"When you buy local seafood that is caught responsibly, you are supporting the local economy and sustainable seafood. At present, local fishers face competition from imported seafood that may not have been caught according to our local regulations. South Carolina's shrimpers, for example, have worked hard to reduce by-catch and to shrimp where trawling is less damaging to ocean floor habitat. Not to mention, when you buy locally, you are also ensured the freshest seafood!" - South Carolina Aquarium, Charleston, www. scaquarium.org.

MyPlate illustrates the five food groups that are the building blocks for a healthy diet using a familiar image - a place setting for a meal. Source: United States Department of Agriculture Choose My Plate; www.choosemyplate.gov/food-groups.

With its deep purple color, chewy texture and nutty undertones, black Thai rice makes a striking, if not regal statement when turned into a creamy rice pudding dessert. Once reserved only for consumption by the emperors of China, black rice is also called "forbidden" rice.

Crave Cupcake Boutique owner Charles Francis' spotlessly clean "Crave Cupcake Boutique (On the Go)", may not resemble the original chuckwagons of mid-1860's Texas, but the concept is the still the same - food on the go. Francis shared that his mobile cupcake outlet is the first licensed food truck in Beaufort county.

Crave Cupcake Boutique (On the Go) operates out of Beaufort's Crave Cupcake Boutique at 1103 Boundary Street, where 50 flavors of cupcakes are available. On the day I spotted the attention-getting truck on the corner of U.S. 278 and S.C. 46, Bluffton, seven flavors of fresh baked cupcakes were offered - Double Chocolate, Red Velvet, Peanut Butter Cup, Oreo Blast, Lemon Blossom, Carrot Cake and Vanilla, more than enough to keep a serious cupcake lover happy. For further information, call 379-1234.

For the fifth year, local restaurants are celebrating Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber Restaurant Week by offering a prix fixe menu from Saturday through Feb. 2.

(A prix fixe meal typically consists of an appetizer, an entrée and dessert, with tax and gratuities not included in the price of the meal.) Modeled after similar events held in New York City and Los Angeles, chances are your favorite eatery (or one you’ve been just itching to try) is involved and good deals can be yours for the taking. Several Bluffton Today 2012 “Best of Bluffton” restaurant winners are participating, among them, on Hilton Head Island, Frankie Bones, Santa Fe Café and Skull Creek Boathouse, along with Bluffton favorites, May River Grill, Sigler’s Rotisserie and Seafood and Sublime Prime, to mention just a few. Says the chamber via its website, “Diners will be able to select their favorite Restaurant Week establishment by voting on the website for the Chamber Restaurant Week Champion. The chosen restaurant will get bragging rights for the year. Reigning 2012 Champion: Hudson’s Seafood House on the Docks!”

As you look over your pick of restaurant menus, you might find it interesting to compare what’s on the bill of fare with the National Restaurant Association’s (NRA) list of predicted food trends for 2013. While some trends have moved further up the list, and others further down (such as Food Trucks, down from No. 13 to No. 20), many predictions remain relatively the same, including locally sourced meats and seafood (No. 1), locally grown produce No. 2) and healthful kids’ meals (No. 3).

Besides food trends, also included in the NRA survey were questions pertaining to technology, rising food costs and nutritious recipes. “More than half (55 percent) of the chefs said they always make efforts to adjust dishes and recipes to be more healthful, while 37 percent said they cook with nutrition in mind, but that not all recipes are easily adjusted. When asked how to best handle the increasing cost of ingredients, one-third (32 percent) said changing menus, one-quarter (25 percent) said adjusting plate composition and another quarter (24 percent) said exploring new sourcing options. Only four percent said that raising menu prices is the best strategy. The chefs also said the best ways to address rising food costs is to change menus, adjust plate composition and explore sourcing options,” cites the NRA.

The NRA conducted an online survey of 1,834 members of the American Culinary Federation in October-November 2012. The chefs were given a list of 198 items and were asked to rate each item as a “hot trend,” “yesterday’s news” or “perennial favorite” on restaurant menus in 2013. Note: Figures may not add to 100 percent due to rounding.

1. Locally sourced meats and seafood

How top chefs create dishes with locally sourced seafood (crab)

At last fall’s 2012 Historic Bluffton Arts & Seafood Festival “Art of Cuisine” Iron Chef Competition, some of the area’s best chefs were challenged to present a panel of judges with two dishes each created from “secret” items. Those dishes must have been completed within one hour and highlight the two secret seafood ingredients of flounder and lump crab meat (donated by the Bluffton Oyster Co.) and two of the non-seafood items which, this year, included basil, fennel, summer squash, red onion and chorizo sausage. Each chef was also permitted to bring along three additional items to complete their dish. Dishes were judged on creativity with ingredients; flavor and quality; use of secret seafood ingredients; and presentation. In addition, bonus points were awarded for the name of the dish.

It is a cooperative effort among producers, processors, wholesalers, retailers and the South Carolina Department of Agriculture (SCDA) to brand and promote South Carolina grown produce and products.

2. Locally grown produce

3. Healthful kids’ meals

Hilton Head Island’s Roastfish & Cornbread Restaurant offers kids healthy food options in their Happy Frog meals. For more information regarding the wide array of fresh, local foods available at the restaurant by calling 342-2996.

“What is sustainable seafood? Sustainable seafood refers to fish that are caught or farmed with consideration for the long-term viability of individual marine species and for the oceans’ ecological balance as a whole. In other words, sustainable seafood is fish for the future. Although awareness of the oceans and their importance to humans is increasing, we are still taking too many fish out of the water (this is called overfishing). As chefs and consumers, we can choose seafood from better managed fisheries to minimize our impact on the environment.” – South Carolina Aquarium, Charleston, www.scaquarium.org

Food trucks are still a hot trend, although not as hot a trend as they were last year when the NRA placed them at No. 13 on the hot trend list. (Could it be that chefs who complete the food trend survey are slightly envious of food trucks’ low overhead, modest staffing needs and ability to service folks at events, fairs and other community happenings?)

21st Annual Lowcountry Soup Challenge

Just to let you know, Volunteer in Medicine’s 21st Annual Lowcountry Soup Challenge is scheduled to take place during Restaurant Week, on Sunday, Jan. 27, from noon until 2:30 p.m. at the Westin Hilton Head Island Resort & Spa, 2 Grasslawn Avenue. More than 20 of the area’s best chefs provide soups for tasting and judging, plus culinary displays and live music. Tickets are $20 and may be purchased in advance, or at the door. For information call 681-6612, extension 235, or visit the VIM website at www.vimclinic.org. The event will benefit the Volunteers in Medicine Clinic.

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